Street life, street death

"Forcing prostitution underground is hampering the fight to curb the spread of AIDS" This Economist article outlines the new program which the United Nations is establishing to spread sexual awareness to predominately South-east Asia countries in an effort to prevent the spread of HIV and other STDs. As over 350,000 new infections of HIV are reported in Asia alone it is a critical area which the UN is basing their efforts in the help to prevent this disease. The best strategy in dealing with prevention of STDs is to, "involve sex workers themselves. As a Chinese delegate put it, given the chance they do a far better job of educating and helping peers than do the UN or government. Myanmar, not normally cited as an outpost of progressive policy, has an HIV-prevention scheme seen as a model. Population Services International, an international NGO, has set up a “peer-to-peer” network with 18 drop-in centres around the country. There, 350 staff, mostly former or present sex workers themselves, dispense advice, discounted condoms and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. HIV prevalence among sex workers dropped from over 30% in 2000-06 to 18% in 2008." Hopefully, a lasting cure will be found for the disease or a way to eliminate HIV will be found as the demand for paying for sexual activities does not seem to have diminished since the dawn of man. I know this is not the usual economic article, but since prostitution was the second profession known to man I thought it might be something to consider.